Though Malaysia has said it would recruit workers from Bangladesh at zero cost but the latter is not sure about whether actually it is possible to hire at zero cost.
Recently Malaysian Human Resources Minister M Kula Segaran told the Malaysia reserve that the country is considering to take labourers from Bangladesh at zero expense.
In this case, representatives would be sent to Dhaka for resolving unsettled issues and they will uphold the matters at joint working group's meeting.
Mentioning that such an agreement on zero-cost recruitment has been signed with Nepal, the minister said discussion in this regard has progressed and hope the matter will be finalized soon.
Recruitment service charges, airfare (going there and returning home), Visa fees, health check-ups, security screening and duty charge of the workers under agreement would be borne by the employers, he added.
Asked Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad about this, he told Jago News that they can talk about zero cost if meeting is held regarding this.
"We on Wednesday again sent letter to Malaysia for a bilateral meeting but they did not give us any date. We can be sure after Malaysia responds," he added.
In 2012 both countries reached a deal to send workers in G-to-G system but that fully failed.
In 2016, Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to recruit labourers through G-toG Plus system.
Government costs in this system was fixed Tk 40,000 but recruiting agencies concerned took Tk 4 lakh to Tk 4.50 lakh per worker.
Huge criticism grew in the leadership level of both countries due to the circle's promptness that led Malaysia to stop recruiting workers from Bangladesh from September 1, 2018.
As part of diplomatic efforts to reopen the market, Minister Imran Ahmad visited Malaysia in the first weeks of last November.
After the visit, fourth meeting of borth countries' joint working committee was scheduled on November 24 and 25 but in the last moment Malaysia postponed it.